NEWS STORY

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Manufacturing.net is featuring a story in its latest issue called "A Balancing Act: Jets, Sustainability And Innovation," about Pratt & Whitney's successful and innovative 15-year history of reducing the impact of its manufacturing facilities and products on the environment for its customers, employees, and the communities in which they work and live.

The article highlights P&W's 2025 Sustainability Goals, which were launched at the 2013 Paris Air Show, and focuses on the many environmental successes the company has achieved since it first began metrics-driven efforts with UTC to reduce its environmental impact in the late 1990s.

"The company has made some significant investments in both the manufacturing processes and the final products. Since 2000, P&W has invested more than $80 million into more than 1,000 environmental-based projects," according to the magazine, which concludes that the successes prove "that a company can innovate and care about the environment in which its employees live while making positive returns along the way."

The article quotes Mary Anne Cannon, vice president, Quality and Environment, Health & Safety, who said P&W has invested millions more into the health and safety of its employees, as sustainability means little if workers are threatened by harm on the job. "This long-term approach insures that we benefit our customers, the environment and the future competitiveness of our company … Innovation is about continuous improvement," said Cannon.

• 28 percent less greenhouse gas emissions — 215,000 metric tons of CO2 — from its factories since 2000, which equates to taking 41,000 vehicles off the road.

• 64 percent less water consumption, equating to nearly one billion gallons.

• 57 percent reduction in the amount of non-recycled waste since 2000 (roughly 40 million pounds), which is the equivalent of removing 1,800 full garbage trucks full of waste.

• Successfully launched a technology plan to develop green alternative materials and is actively pursuing the elimination of materials of concern, such as hexavalent chromium and cadmium, from the design and manufacturing of its products.

• P&W's Geared Turbofan™ technology, which is available on the PurePower® engine family, provides up to a 16 percent reduction in fuel burn, plus significant double-digit reductions in emissions and noise. The engine cuts carbon emissions by 3,000 metric tons annually, which is equivalent to planting nearly 700,000 trees.

"The improvements made in the last decade or so are impressive, to say the least, which means they must come from an established process that the company can use to benchmark a variety of processes and products. Cannon said, 'To determine the environmental and health impacts associated with the stages of our product's life from cradle to grave (i.e., from raw material extraction through materials processing, manufacture, distribution, use, repair and maintenance, and disposal or recycling), Pratt & Whitney uses a life cycle assessment (LCA) tool.'"

P&W's 2025 goals aim "to reduce greenhouse gases and water use by 80 percent, with a particular effort on the water front in areas that have more scarce supplies. They aim to recycle a full 100 percent of waste produced in manufacturing, and will use no 'materials of concern' in their products and processes. By aggressively holding suppliers to conservation targets, P&W hopes to create a supply chain that is equally conscious of the environment and of its own people."

"Pratt & Whitney sets aggressive goals with UTC that we continually meet and exceed … we must continue to improve upon our current sustainable practices and take them to the next level … The goals are important to us not only because this is our 100th anniversary, but because our vision is to be the aerospace industry sustainability leader," added Cannon.